Astrologer Extraordinaire Joyce Hopewell challenged her blog-reading astrologers to come up with eight random things about themselves through the lens of a single aspect structure in their birth chart. So, because I can’t get it out of my head, I choose my irritation triangle, that red-green-green dog biting my chart in two along the MC-IC line.

1. The structure itself – the irritation triangle — is an intensely restless figure that, strung up across the 3rd-9th house axis, has me thinking constantly. I’m a super-mental person who is always gathering and processing data (Mercury), putting it into a useful, organized structure or form (Saturn) that’s infused (I hope) with wild insight (Uranus). In fact, this blog was created as a place for me to put my passing thoughts (Mercury) on the depths of astrological ideas (Uranus) into lasting form (Saturn).

2. Saturn in Taurus, however, can also make me come off as quite serious and deliberate (or, ahem, slow), though I do have a sense of humor that emerges elsewhere — no, really, I do! Anyway, I was very relieved to read The Introvert Advantage, which pointed out that, in introverts, the pathway that thoughts travel to reach comprehension is actually physically longer than it is in extraverts. In the 9th house (which is about long-distance travel and deep thinking), this makes perfect sense to me. And it makes me happy.

3. Speaking of deep thinking, yes, the 9th house Saturn definitely scores big on that one. But Sun-Mercury in Scorpio at the IC is no slouch, either. I have that pair constantly plumbing the depths for information that I can chew on, turn over, revel in, have fun with and ultimately put to good use. My favorite dispatch for Sun-Mercury is the collective unconscious, the realm of the archetypes — living, breathing, ancient models for human behavior and interactions. So favorite, in fact, that I went and got a Master’s degree in the stuff from Pacifica Graduate Institute.

4. Mercury also loves collecting stories – and at the bottom of the birth chart, the more collective and unconscious, the better. So I’ve launched a venture which should go public this fall that will help people tell stories about transformative events in their family lives. Mercury-Sun in Scorpio straddling the IC! More to come…

5. And speaking of stories, my dad is a master storyteller (Sun-Mercury). He didn’t fight in a war, he never spied on the Soviets (remember that whole thing?!), he hasn’t (yet) achieved fame as a rock star (except in my childhood eyes). But grab a glass of wine (uh — that’s my Venus-Jupiter conjunction in Libra talking) and get comfortable (again with the Venus-Jupiter!), because once you get him going, his storytelling could keep you captivated for hours.

6. But don’t let me sit too long, because that red line straight up the chart is my spine — and it hurts. It connects my playful, instinctive self (Sun conjunct Mercury) with my demanding Saturn overlord. For years, a tug-of-war between these two has wreaked psychosomatic havoc on my back. The only thing that seems to help is emptying my mind through yoga and meditation. Kundalini yoga is my passion; the creative lifeforce of Kundalini energy is often symbolized by a snake (one symbol of Scorpio) curled at the base of the spine (IC), waiting to be awakened. I have a curled snake tattooed on my sacrum.

7. It’s best for my thoughts that I don’t sit long, though, whether in meditation or vegetation. My thoughts seem to converge, cohere and clarify best when I’m walking … and walking … and walking. I’ve always loved hiking, and the image of Mercury in the shadow of the 4th house — climbing to the summit of the mountain of the depths — really resonates with me. Literal vigorous walking brings me closer to that summit. When I don’t walk regularly, my thoughts go flabby. Yuck.

8. Uranus. Surprise! Orange you glad I didn’t say Saturn again? With semisextile and quincunx antennae, and a lunar conjunction to boot, this little green man is the feeler-into-er of the irritation trio. While Mercury’s spewing out data and Saturn’s trying to categorize it, organize it and make something of it, Uranus — if it can get a word in edgewise — helps me focus on the intuitive center of all that info. I used to try and logic everything out. I made some serious missteps that way that I’d rather not discuss, thanks anyway. Now, if I can hear through the babble of the thick red line, my gut usually tells me everything I need to know.

9. Bonus #9. It took me forever to get this post completed and up because of the perfectionism, anxiety and change-my-mind-iness of that irritating triangle!

What are some random things you’ve learned about yourself through astrology? My irritation triangle wants to know!

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